Pain Management

Dr Muhammed Farooq Khan (c) conducts today's session on pain management

After that enlightening talk last Saturday on HAPPINESS by Karun Sharma (see post), Banoo Apa’s husband, Dr Muhammed Farooq Khan today held forth on the other side of the same coin: PAIN.
“There is no cure for pain,” he said at the outset. “It is a myth that pain can ever be cured. If anybody tells you that he has a cure for pain, he'd be lying. Till date, medical science has not found any such cure. At best pain can be managed.”
Dr Farooq Khan was speaking from the wisdom of his experience as an accomplished practitioner of alternative medicine, backed by unimpeachable credentials – an MD in homeopathy, a DSc in acupuncture and a PhD in medical hypnosis.
So it came as no surprise that he could hold us in thrall for almost 45 minutes as he analyzed what pain is all about – the ‘philosophy’

Vasudev Batheja (r) joins BIG LAAF

Birthday boy Vasudev Batheja (l)

behind it, difference between acute and chronic pain, common triggers, preventive measures, the effect of pain killers and so on.
Warming up to what affects most of us seniors – namely, skeletal pain – he drew a distinction again, between osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. “Unlike rheumatoid arthritis that compromises the body’s auto-immune system, osteoarthritis is not a disease. It is a condition -- a degenerative process that comes about with age and affects our joints due to friction of the bones.”

Vasudev's birthday bash

Displaying printed literature to illustrate his talk, Dr Farooq Khan explained that we cannot grow cartilages between our joints to eliminate the pain caused by friction.

Bunty sings for the 'birthday boy'

“We therefore take the easy way out by popping in a pain killer, which is nothing but a tablet or capsule of chemicals that temporarily block the impulses of pain from the brain. Little do we realize how the so-called pain killer fires up our liver and permanently damages our kidneys and the digestive system. There are of course, traditional alternatives like yoga, fomentation, even ayurveda. Or perhaps homeopathy, acupressure, acupuncture, joint therapy and so on, which would give you relief without the damage. I will take them up one by one, the next time we meet.”
The session had to be interrupted because our new member, Vasudev Batheja, was celebrating his birthday and had kept it a secret so long. He wanted to surprise us. Or else, we could have scheduled today’s talk to some other date. But the good doctor took it sportingly and joined us in wishing the ‘birthday boy’ many happy returns of the day.

Session in progress

Dr Muhammed Farooq Khan:
I sincerely thank the Managing Committee of Big Laaf for giving me an opportunity to interact with senior citizens on the issue of Pain Management. The Blog Monster, on his part, has covered the talk like a professional reporter, true to its core. Thank you very much. Thanks also to all the members who patiently heard me. It will be my pleasure to receive any comment or reaction of the participating members on my presentation and subject matter. My best wishes to Big Laaf.
Dilip Babani:
My thanks to Farooq Sir for giving such important information about pain. Really it was very nice of him. All members can now take advantage of the information, knowing the reality about the effect of medicines in our body -- about how to cure pain with cold water and hot water, about the benefits of excercise and positive thinking. We would like to listen to more on this in another session and learn about ways to suppress pain in our body.
Happy Birthday, dear Vasudev Batheja. May god bless you. Thanks for the party and congratulations on becoming a Big Laaf family member.
Bihari Milwani:
I wonder how a doctor can give away the secret of removing pain without medicine. There must be some misunderstanding somewhere. More pain means bigger fees for doctors.
Dilip Babani adds:
My thanks to Bunty-ji for the very nice song. Also Vasudev for the very nice Mukesh song.
Kiran Prakash:
No amount of thanking Dr Farooq Sah'b will be enough. He explained the human anatomy in a way everybody could understand. It was so nice of him to bring a book with illustrations which made things even simpler. Wish we had more time with him. We will be very happy if he is able to share some more information on pain management and other common age-related ailments. Thanks, once again.
Happy birthday, dear Vasudev. Many happy returns of the day. We welcome you to Big Laaf. It was so nice of dear Bunty too to sing on the occasion.
Lt Col Angad Singh (from Mohali):
It is nice that Dr Farooq has explained in simple language all the aspects of pain and how to overcome it. The fact that pain killers are harmful has also been covered very lucidly. I wish I could have also joined the group to learn all of this. Hope to meet you all soon.